Comedian Phyllis Diller Dead at 95

Comedian Phyllis Diller has died in Los Angeles, reports the Associated Press. She was 95. The pioneering comedian, famous for her unmistakable rapid-fire laugh, was a trailblazer for female comics, appearing regularly on the nightclub and television circuit since the Fifties.

Diller, born Phyllis Driver in Lima, Ohio, took up comedy as she neared her 40th birthday, building a stand-up act around a zany housewife persona with a wacky wardrobe and a husband she called Fang. She made her network TV debut on Groucho Marx’s game show You Bet Your Life, starred in the Sixties sitcom The Pruitts of Southampton and hosted a short-lived variety show in 1968 called The Beautiful Phyllis Diller Show. READ MORE